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Click here to get fantasy baseball advice on three guys to watch out for in the early going. Play your waiver wire well and win your league with RotoBaller!
In this piece, RotoBaller delves deeper into three players who are currently in our Daily Updated Waiver Wire Watch List that you should look to own over the next few weeks. These are fringe players, available on the waiver wire in many leagues, who could have an immediate impact early in the 2013 season. If you invest a roster spot in one of these guys and catch a hot streak, you could then trade for a more stable player, or roll the dice on continued hot performance. Either way, you could see a fairly nice return from any of these players.
Travis Hafner, DH (NYY) – Once one of the game’s most feared hitters, Hafner has battled one injury after another and missed significant chunks of the past five seasons. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a useful hitter-- he retains a great plate approach and has compiled an aggregate .810 OPS with 38 HR in 278 games played since 2010. Having surged out of the gate at a robust .333/.419/.556 clip, ‘Pronk’ is entrenched in the Yankees cleanup spot and worth streaming in deeper mixed leagues right now.
Michael Saunders, OF (SEA) – Author of a potentially career-saving 2012, Saunders finally proved he could hit lefties and managed to wipe away three years of disappointment with a decent .247/.306/.432 campaign that featured 19 HR and 53 extra-base hits. While those numbers might not garner much mixed-league interest on their own, it was his 21 SB on 25 attempts that put him on the fantasy radar, and made him a quiet 20/20 candidate worth a possible late-round selection in deeper drafts this year. A starting outfielder in seven of Seattle’s first nine games who is hitting an early .286/.333/.500 with three steals, Saunders’s relevance could very well end up extending beyond deep leagues.
Jean Segura, SS (MIL) – Acquired from the Angels as the centerpiece of the Zack Greinke trade last July, Segura is a premium athlete who possesses high-end speed and surprising strength. A career .313/.367/.439 hitter over 1,755 minor league plate appearances, the Brewers shortstop struggled in a late-season call-up last year but is off to a terrific start in 2013. Segura suffered a bruised quad on Sunday and missed Monday’s game, but the injury was never a major concern and he was back in Milwaukee’s lineup Tuesday. Owned in 66% of CBS but just 33% of Yahoo leagues, the 23-year-old has already seen time in the front third of the Brewers batting order and needs to be rostered in mixed leagues.
